This system was way too cruel.

  Ban Yue was in disbelief.

  He felt like he had been thrown a lifeline only for him to follow it and realize that the end was at the bottom of the sea.

  What was the purpose of putting Clodine’s staff in the map if the pyers couldn’t use it?

  It must be the system taunting them. At the moment, that was all Ban Yue could come up with.

  Was this some sort of cruel troll move? Ban Yue thought hard.

  Anyhow, all hopes weren’t lost.

  From this, he was able to find out one thing.

  The books clearly said that Clodine Becket had perished during The Battle of the Red Moon, but it seems he was still alive and hiding somewhere inside the academy.

  Ban Yue wasn’t sure if the scenario had hidden this fact from him intentionally, and he had somehow stumbled upon it by mistake, or it was already part of the original solution and he had merely overlooked the clues. Nevertheless, it would be such a waste to not take advantage of this information.

  A pce taken over by shadow puppets.

  A staff that’s clearly in working condition but haven’t been used for the past 100 years.

  The blessing of Nature and a powerful high priest with the strongest power of light who was hiding inside the academy.

  And somehow the academy is still in this state?

  It was clear to Ban Yue that these things didn’t add up. He already knew that some of the system’s scenarios couldn’t be taken at face value.

  For one, he had been led to believe that Clodine Becket, the only light mage in Alpainus, was dead.

  And two, the moment the blue window had revealed to Ban Yue that Clodine Becket was still in the academy, he had been ejected by the system from the map.

  Ban Yue had viable reasons to doubt the system. And so, Ban Yue could only suspect that this entire thing wasn’t quite as simple as a mini game of hide and seek.

  A high priest with such tenacity wouldn’t back down this easily.

  It was likely that wherever the High Priest Clodine Becket was, he was in a state where his powers couldn’t be used. It was better to proceed with this kind of thinking, so Ban Yue can be prepared to handle the situation.

  This morning, at exactly 5am, Ban Yue had used Incognito on Ludville and followed the shadow puppets back to their hiding pce. He discovered that an old dungeon existed underneath the academy and that these beings who were scared of the light would come home to this dark and musty pce as soon as the sun started to rise.

  Assuming Ban Yue was one of the bad guys, where would he keep a prisoner of war?

  Perhaps somewhere like a dungeon underground.

  But Clodine Becket was a powerful light mage.

  If something went wrong with his restraints and he somehow managed to escape, then they’d all drop like burned flies in less than the time Clodine Becket needed to blink.

  Then there’s just one pce left.

  Ban Yue would put him away high high up above the ground where it was inaccessible to most people…

  Just like that tower over there.

  Ban Yue heard the door sm open.

  Ludville who was still panting from running across the campus and up sever flights of steps approached Ban Yue with an expression that looked like he was ready to cry.

  “You’re here! I thought you’d disappeared for good! What happened? I was just holding you, and then all of a sudden, you were gone!...” Ludville sniffled as he knelt before Ban Yue.

  After Ban Yue disappeared, the system had automatically returned him to Ludville’s bedroom atop the two boxes sitting by his window.

  Ban Yue comforted the startled Ludville as much as his non-existent limbs would allow. He said in a soothing voice, “There, there, don’t cry. It was just a little trick, and I used it by mistake.”

  Ban Yue didn’t think telling Ludville about the system would result in anything good. After all, Ludville was an NPC in a game.

  If he found out about this, how would he react?

  So, Ban Yue resorted to this expnation.

  “A trick? I didn’t know you could do things like that…” Ludville said in a mild voice.

  “I do like to pull little pranks from time to time. I even trick myself sometimes.” Ban Yue simply said.

  Seeing Ban Yue’s unconcerned demeanor, Ludville colpsed to the ground and took a moment to catch his breath. It was the fastest and farthest he had run after a long time.

  “That’s right. Take a moment to catch your breath.” Ban Yue said encouragingly.

  Ludville was suddenly filled with suspicion when he heard Ban Yue’s patronizing voice. He couldn’t help but feel like Ban Yue was going to say something outrageous again.

  It was also like this st time.

  When Ban Yue told Ludville that he was his mother, when he told him they would escape this pce together, and when he announced this morning that today would be that day, Ban Yue had an overly calm voice that was somehow tinged by a calcuting demeanor, as if he had spoken his thoughts out loud while in deep thought.

  Ludville, “W-what is it this time?”

  Ban Yue, “See that tower over there?”

  If Ban Yue was a person at the moment, he would be pointing nguidly towards it with his index finger, as if he was merely pointing at an item in a convenience store.

  “…W-which one? I don’t see it.”

  Ludville’s face turned pale.

  “That tower that looks to be 31 floors high. It’s quite hard to miss.”

  “…………”

  Ban Yue’s voice had a hint of a smile.

  Ludville was too scared to speak.

  Ban Yue finally decred, “We’ll have to climb it once you’re done resting.”

  “….!?!”

  “Nooooooooooooooo!!!”

  Ludville’s mentality colpsed.

  “You scammer! You said you’d save me, but you’re actually working me to death!” Ludville huffed as he lifted one leg up the next step.

  [Pyer Ban Yue’s HP has been reduced to 68/100.]

  [Pyer Ban Yue’s HP has been reduced to 67/100.]

  [Pyer Ban Yue’s HP has been reduced to 66/100.]

  “Ludville…Ludville…hold me up properly please. Also, save your energy…” Ban Yue called out from below.

  As soon as Ludville reached the 12th floor, he had stopped trying to hold Ban Yue up in his arms and let his left arm which held onto Ban Yue dangle loosely on his side. Every now and then, Ban Yue’s face would hit a step and his HP would go down by 1 point.

  If Ludville took 65 more steps like this, Ban Yue would ascend to the heavens before they even reached the top of the tower. Every moment felt like he was on the stairway to heaven.

  In a way, Ban Yue was indeed on his way to find a High Priest, so Ban Yue ughed to himself thinking it was a little bit fitting.

  Thankfully, Ludville heard him this time and tucked him underneath his arm instead.

  Unfortunately, elevators have yet to be invented during Ludville’s time. At such a time where small conveniences like this didn’t exist yet, Ban Yue wondered just who on earth was sadistic enough to think that building a tower this high was a good idea. The era Ludville lived in seem to think that ordinary people were meant to suffer. If Ban Yue had magic, they could just float up to the top after all.

  Once in a while, Ludville would sit down on a step to catch his breath. Sometimes he would be letting out a string of compins, and sometimes he would be sitting in silence as if his soul had already left his body. However, just like his character profile said, Ludville was indeed someone who remained resolute as soon as he decided on something. Within an hour, Ban Yue and Ludville finally reached the highest floor of the tower.

  The 31st floor had a single room with a locked door.

  When Ban Yue looked around, he found cobwebs and dust all over the damp walls.

  It was clear that nobody had visited to clean around this pce for the past several years.

  His eyes drifted to the door in front of them whose handles had been tied by a long heavy rusty chain and a big padlock.

  Ban Yue couldn’t feel nor hear any signs of life from beyond the door, so he was starting to get worried.

  After all, it had been more than 400 years since Clodine Becket lived. Logically thinking, he shouldn’t be able to live this long if he were human. But because this was a world of fantasy and magic, Ban Yue humored the idea that Clodine Becket may still be alive somewhere in this tower. However, if that was not the case, and what was beyond the door was nothing but a corpse…

  Ban Yue didn’t want a young child to see such a gruesome sight.

  But Ban Yue was thinking way too ahead.

  They still haven’t found a way to open this door. Clearly, they needed a key, and clearly, that key didn’t exist. He had some tools in his inventory and he could use Incognito for a while but it wasn’t certain that they’d be able to open this door.

  Ban Yue didn’t see any windows to enter from, and this tower was too high for him to ask someone to jump off and not get cursed or to convince someone to let their hair down.

  At that moment, Ludville asked, “Do you have a pin or a really thin stick? Anything is fine as long as it can fit through this hole…” Ludville fiddled with the padlock.

  “Can you pick locks?” Ban Yue asked in surprise.

  Ludville didn’t seem the type, but Ban Yue did vaguely remember him talking about sneaking into town and joining art contests.

  “I learned a little. I learned it because my step-siblings kept on locking me up in the old storage cabin back home. I’d sneak out into town right after and put the knob back and they wouldn’t know a single thing.” Ludville said proudly.

  Ban Yue couldn’t help but admire this child who was timid but couldn’t be easily put down.

  He smiled, “Good job.”

  Ban Yue summoned his inventory and took out a spiked candle holder. After a few moments, Ban Yue heard the chain and padlock fall down heavily on the floor.

  “Amazing. How are you good at so many things, Ludville?” Ban Yue complimented.

  Ludville was truly amazing. He had managed to unlock the door in under five minutes.

  Hearing the compliment, Ludville blushed and pyed with his hair. He wasn’t used to hearing compliments, so he wasn’t quite sure how to respond. After a while, he voiced out a small thank you. His hands went up and prepared to push the door open.

  At that moment, Ban Yue’s serious voice stopped him in his tracks.

  “Wait, Ludville. Don’t open it yet.”

  “What…why?”

  “Remember that trick I mentioned before? I have another trick, but you might have to fall asleep for a while.”

  “Sleep? Why do I have to sleep? Can’t we just go in together?”

  “No.”

  Ban Yue’s tone was so firm that Ludville was a little bit startled.

  He wasn’t used to Ban Yue acting this way, so he asked, “…What kind of trick is it…?”

  Ban Yue thought the word “possession” was too scary.

  Saying they would exchange positions would not be quite accurate either.

  Ban Yue sighed.

  How should he expin Incognito to Ludville without scaring him?

  “…Do you trust me?”

  “…I do!”

  “Then…let’s just say it’s the power of friendship?”

  “?...What’s that supposed to mean…?”

  Ban Yue frowned at the orange window that had suddenly in front of him just after Ludville unlocked the door.

  [You are entering an area in the map that has yet to be unlocked. In order to not affect the progression of your currently selected scenario, the system will now return you to your starting point in…5...]

  Ban Yue ughed a little.

  […4…]

  “I guess I really did stumble on something I wasn’t supposed to…”

  […3…]

  [Would you like to use Incognito?]

  […2…]

  Ban Yue clicked on the “Yes” option.

  […1…]

  [Incognito is currently in use. Effect: 00:14:57]

  [You are entering an area in the map that has yet to be unlocked. In order to not affect the progression of your currently selected scenario, the system will now return you to your starting point in…5...]

  […4…]

  […3…]

  […2…]

  [Unable to initiate return system command while Incognito is in effect. Command return has been terminated.]

  “…It worked.”

  Ban Yue straightened his back and sighed in relief.

  His blue eyes showed a hint of amusement at his discovery.

  “Haha, somehow I feel like I’m being spoiled.”